VANCOUVER REGIONAL FREENET ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MINUTES OF MEETINGS
August 2, 1994
Vancouver Public Library
Present: Jacqueline Van Dyk, Brian Campbell, Eric Yung, Guy Thomas, Vic Vaivads
Sharon Zaluski, Ann Doyle
Absent: Susan Pendakur, Steven Chan, Phil Lyons, Margaret Coates, Tom Hansen
Dennis Breckenridge, Boodie Arnott
Guests: Eric Teachman, Neil K. Guy
1.0 Agenda
* no posted agenda, but it was circulated at the meeting
* in addition to the usual committee reports, the Policy Issues were:
- Telecommunities Canada founding meeting
- Purging users policy
- Acknowledgment policy for fundraisers
- modems
- BCLA Information Policy Conference
- Internet course advertising
* Under Other Business, Ann wanted Board Meeting Structure to be raised.
Motion (Guy/Vic) To accept the agenda. PASSED
2.0 Minutes of July 19th:
Motion (Vic/Guy) To accept the minutes of July 19th. PASSED.
3.0 Policy Issues:
3.1 Telecommunities Canada Founding Conference:
* Vic is our official representative, and John Jespersen from Comm Content
will also be there.
* the role of Telecommunities Canada and NPTN was discussed - we envision
that we pay Telecommunities Canada and that they work out an agreement
with NPTN. (BC FreeNet model).
3.2 Puring Users' Access:
* policy document not ready yet from Eric Y.
3.3 Acknowledgement of Fundraisers:
* Tom needs to send money information to Vic/Dennis
* this needs to be articulated and is to be a function of Fundraising
3.4 Modems: to be covered in HW/SW report
3.5 BCLA Info Policy Meeting: Jacqueline
* Jacqueline asks that we participate in the conference in November.
* she asks that we endorse the event and participate in organizing the
conference - possibly we talk to PR about this?
Motion: (Jacqueline/Sharon) That we endorse the Information Policy Conference
and participate in the event at the organizing level. PASSED.
3.6 Internet Course Advertising: Ann
* Ann wants to list facilities offering Internet courses
* discussion on listing for-profit organizations vs. educational/non-profits
Motion: (Ann/Jacqueline) That information be posted on the FreeNet about
Internet courses from the educational/non-profit sources and that
we mention commercial courses as well. PASSED.
* Eric Y. mentions that Sandy Mayo is giving a speech about FreeNets at
the Fidonet RegionCon17 in August.
* Eric Y. mentions that BC Tel has been given the go-ahead for increasing
its business measured service by 250% and whether we want to take an
active advocacy role in this - discussion indicated no interest at this time.
* Jacqueline leaves at this time and quorum is lost. All motions/decision
after this point in the minutes are to be ratified at next Board meeting.
4.0 Treasurer's report: Tom absent
* we have $23,527.59 in our account
* we received about $1400 in last 8-10 days from memberships
* report does not include $50,000 from Vancouver Foundation
Motion: (Vic/Eric) To accept the Treasurer's report. PASSED.
5.0 Office/Membership report: Eric T. present, Susan absent
* we have 91 new members for a total of 558 members
Motion: (Guy/Vic) To accept the Office/Membership report. PASSED.
6.0 User Support/Training report: Ann
* report posted to board mailing list
* technical writers met with PR for formats etc.
* library trainers met - honorarium discussed
Motion: (Ann/Vic) That VRFA request an honorarium for any hands-on training
sessions from professional and other financially capable organizations.
PASSED.
* Ann is away from August 11th to September 5th. - a technical writer liaison
will be asked to represent that group at the Board meetings Ann misses.
* Vic mentions he is away from Thursday August 4th until September.
* Eric Y. asks that all absences be posted to him so he can put together
a guide for everyone else.
7.0 Library Liaison: Jacqueline absent
* no report
* Ann: do we have an agreement between VRFA and libraries? Brian: Jacqueline
is working on this.
8.0 Volunteer Coordinator's report: Sharon
* two orientation meetings coming up: Monday August 8th and Thursday August
18th. - looking for some place other than Neil Squire Foundation office
* Eric T. to look into modem/telnet connections at Harbour Centre rooms
* 6 people on Volunteer committee to do phone backs etc.
Motion: (Sharon/Vic) To accept the Volunteer Coordinator's report. PASSED.
9.0 Committee Reports:
9.1 Hardware/Software: Vic
* modems - they're up, and finally debugged by Dennis. We're getting busy
signals!
* as of 1:00 Saturday, we had 849 modem logins of which 202 were to the
guest account.
* 2GB HD was purchased and installed, and now moving everything to our own
hardware.
* 590 active accounts - 563 through online registration, 27 setup previously.
* there are 429 registrations waiting processing.
Motion: (Vic/Guy) To accept the HW/SW report. PASSED.
9.2 System Design: Steven absent
* 5 diskless ATs available
Motion by Guy failed due to lack of a seconder
Motion: (Vic/Eric) That the PC support group investigate these machines for
their value to our office and report back to us a recommendation for
their purchase. PASSED.
9.3 Community Content: Guy
* meeting next week - Wednesday or Thursday.
9.4 Fundraising: Brian
* add for coordinator position in Thursday or Friday's paper (Vancouver Sun)
* sent off Section 25 application for 4 positions
* sent off casino application
* meeting in next 2 weeks
10.0 Other business
* AGM - Britannia Community Centre suggested
* Grand Opening - Science World suggested
* Ann: Board meeting structure - current format very adversarial and she
wonders if a new format might be better - referred suggestion to the new
Board after AGM.
* Eric Y. to add VPL events to events calendar.
Meeting adjourns at 9:00pm